Recently, attention has been given to a hybrid vehicle as an environmentally friendly vehicle. In addition to a conventional engine, the hybrid vehicle is equipped with a power storage device, an inverter, and a motor driven by the inverter, as a mechanical power supply for vehicle driving.
As one example of such a hybrid vehicle, there has been known a vehicle having a motor running mode during which the hybrid vehicle runs with an engine being stopped (hereinafter, such a mode is also referred to as an “EV mode” and a running mode during which the vehicle runs with the engine being actuated is also referred to as an “HV mode”) (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 8-19114).
In the hybrid vehicle, however, the engine and components actuated in accordance with the actuation of the engine are not actuated in the EV mode. Consequently, there arises a problem that maintenance timings of the engine and the components related to the engine are not in keeping with actual use statuses when being determined from a total running distance or a total use time of the vehicle.
In a case of a hybrid vehicle capable of charging a power storage device through an external power supply (e.g., a system power supply), particularly, a running distance in an EV mode is extended. Consequently, it is impossible to accurately grasp use statuses of an engine and components related to the engine, based on a total running distance or a total use time of the vehicle.